Chain Of Fire [Paperback]

The inhabitants of a black South African town resist the white government's plan for their relocation; PW said, "this gripping novel . . . blazes with rage. It tackles tough issues head-on and presents them with superb dramatic tension." Ages 11-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Grade 5-8-- Naledi and Tiro, the children in Naidoo's Journey to Jo'Burg (Harper, 1986), return in a longer tale that stands on its own but is enhanced by the reading of its predecessor. The story begins with the sudden announcement that the people of Naledi's village are to be removed to "the homeland" in four weeks' time. With every reason to believe few will survive the removal, the villagers choose to resist, their determination fired by the righteous indignation of their young. Naledi, her friend Taolo, and three others are elected student representatives in the resistance, and together they organize a peaceful student march as a demonstration of unity and strength. But the police anticipate their plan, and the march ends in violence. Events accelerate. Homes are bulldozed, families are separated, and Taolo's father is murdered. The removal is accomplished and, for the moment, it seems the white government has won. But Naledi and her neighbors are no longer the same villagers who once clung passively to subsistence. They are becoming a unified people, with a recognizable enemy and no end of heroes alive and dead around whom to rally--and the beginnings of a political mechanism through which to do so. As Naledi and the others have matured, politically, since the first book, so Naidoo has matured markedly as a writer. She demonstrates an insight into her characters and their condition--particularly the role of the young in initiating and sustaining rebellion that was far less evident in Journey. . . Chain of Fire flows effortlessly, with power and grace, as it succeeds in making a foreign culture immediate and real. Truly it is the grimmer tale, but one that, in light of its own truth as well as of recent events, readers might look at with a trace more hope. --Marcia Hupp, Mamaroneck Public Library, NY
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The South African government is forcing Naledi an the other villagers to move to a new location: a "homeland" of iron huts and barren soil. And it seems that no one is willing to resist.

No one, that is, except Naledi's friend Taolo, whose family has often spoken out against apartheid. Taolo gives Naledi the strength to fight, and with his help, she and her schoolmates organize an anti-removal march through the village. But the right of free expression is not a liberty granted to the young protesters, and the police instigate a reign of terror on the villagers. Naledi and Taolo's chain of fiery resistance cannot be broken, though. With each new crisis, it grows ever stronger and burns ever brighter.

Beverly Naidoo grew up in South Africa under the apartheid system. An active resister to apartheid, she lived in her home country until departing to study at the University of York in England. There she began writing in exile and in 1985 published her first children's book, the award-winning Journey to Jo'burg, which was dedicated to her nanny's two daughters who died from diptheria because only white people were inoculated at the time. Journey To Jo'burg was banned in South Africa until 1991.

Beverly Naidoo has taught primary and secondary school in London and worked as an Advisor for English and Cultural Diversity in Dorset. She has a Ph.D. in exploring issues of racism with young people through literature and works tirelessly to promote children's entitlement to grow up free from racism and injustice. Her newest novel is The Other Side Of Truth, for which she won an Arts Council of England Writer's Award in 1999 for work-in-progress as well as the Smarties Silver Medal in 2000 and the Library Association's prestigious Carnegie Medal.